Abraham Palatnik

Abraham Palatnik (Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, 1928 - 2020)

Abraham Palatnik was a Brazilian artist recognized as one of the international pioneers of kinetic art. Born in Natal, he moved with his family to the region that now corresponds to the State of Israel in 1932. There, between 1942 and 1945, he studied at the Montefiori Technical School in Tel Aviv, specializing in internal combustion engines. At the same time, he began his artistic training in the studio of painter Haaron Avni and sculptor Sternshus, in addition to studying aesthetics with Professor Shor. He also attended the Tel Aviv Municipal Institute of Art between 1943 and 1947, which provided him with a solid technical and theoretical foundation.

Upon returning to Brazil in 1948, Palatnik settled in Rio de Janeiro, where he began to associate with important names in the art scene such as Ivan Serpa, Renina Katz, and Almir Mavignier. Through this circle, he frequented the home of art critic Mário Pedrosa and became acquainted with the work of psychiatrist Nise da Silveira at the Engenho de Dentro Psychiatric Hospital. These experiences were fundamental to his break with traditional standards of artistic composition and his transition to a visual language based on experimentation with form and color.

Around 1949, he began innovative research on light and movement, culminating in the creation of his first Cinechromatic Apparatus, presented in 1951 at the 1st São Paulo International Biennial, where it received an honorable mention. Beginning in 1964, he began developing Kinetic Objects, pieces that reveal their internal mechanisms and dispense with the projection of light, deepening his investigation into the relationship between art, science, and technology.

In 1954, he joined the Frente Group, alongside artists such as Ivan Serpa, Lygia Clark, Franz Weissmann, and Ferreira Gullar, establishing himself as one of the leading figures in concrete and neoconcrete art in Brazil. With work marked by mathematical rigor and a constant search for new forms of expression, Abraham Palatnik built a unique career that influenced generations and brought Brazilian kinetic art to international recognition.

Critical Commentary

The son of Russian Jews, Abraham Palatnik migrated to the region where the state of Israel is now located in 1932. Between 1942 and 1945, he attended the Montefiori Technical School in Tel Aviv and specialized in internal combustion engines. From 1943 onwards, he took drawing, painting, and aesthetics classes at the Tel Aviv Municipal Art Institute, where he remained until 1947. He produced landscapes, portraits, and still lifes. Critic Frederico Morais comments on the drawings from this period and states that in the graphite drawings, the line is agile, fluent, almost lyrical. In the charcoal drawings, the black line is firm, solid, realistic, sometimes expressionist.1 In 1948, he returned to Brazil, settled in Rio de Janeiro, and met artists such as Renina Katz, Almir Mavignier, and Ivan Serpa. With Mavignier, he frequented the home of art critic Mário Pedrosa and the studios of the Engenho de Dentro Psychiatric Hospital. The artist says: "The impact of the visits to Engenho de Dentro and the conversations with Mário Pedrosa demolished my convictions about art." 2 Palatnik ceased to consider the quality of a work based on the realistic handling of paint and the association of art with its subject. His painting and sculpture abandoned the scholastic criteria of composition and moved toward free relationships between forms and colors. At this point, he approached abstract art. After painting some constructive canvases, in 1949 he began designing machines in which color appeared to move. Based on these experiments, screen boxes with lamps that moved through motor-driven mechanisms were created. Mário Pedrosa called these inventions "Cinechromatic Devices," first shown in 1951 at the 1st São Paulo International Biennial. In his first text on Palatnik, Pedrosa describes these devices as boxes in which he projects compositions of moving colored shapes onto a screen or other semi-transparent material. 3 This work pioneered the use of artificial light sources in art. In 1953, the artist exhibited new Cinecromáticos at the 2nd São Paulo International Biennial and the 1st National Exhibition of Abstract Art at the Hotel Quitandinha. His involvement with constructivist issues and ongoing dialogue with artists such as Ivan Serpa and Almir Mavignier led him to participate in the creation of Grupo Frente in 1954. He participated in several of the group's exhibitions. He participated in the first group show at Galeria Ibeu in Rio de Janeiro in 1954. In 1955, he participated in exhibitions such as those at the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (MAM/RJ), Volta Redonda, and Resende. From 1959 onward, he took movement into the three-dimensional realm. He creates works in which electromagnetic fields activate small objects placed in closed boxes. While inventing pieces that explore the technological possibilities of art, the artist creates paintings on two-dimensional surfaces. In 1962, he began the Progressions series. According to Frederico Morais, this involves the arrangement of a series of strips of a specific material on a surface, seeking to create optical effects. 4 In this work, Palatnik uses materials such as wood, cardboard, rope, and polyester. In 1964, the Kinetic Objects series was born. The artist creates wire sculptures, colored shapes, and threads that move, driven by motors and electromagnets. The pieces resemble the mobiles of American sculptor Alexander Calder. However, they differ from them in that they move with mechanical regularity within planned dynamics. The Cinecromatic Devices were exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1964. His participation in this exhibition brought him international recognition, and he became considered a pioneer of kinetic art. This recognition led him to participate in the international kinetic art exhibition Mouvement 2, held at the Denise René Gallery in Paris, in 1964. In 1999, Frederico Morais organized retrospectives of Palatnik at Itaú Cultural in São Paulo and at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Niterói (MAC-Niterói). He was recognized as a pioneer, the first to explore technological advances in the creation of the Brazilian avant-garde. What Mário Pedrosa described in 1953 remains true for the artist-inventor's career, as he pursued his path toward making machines capable of generating works of art.

Note

1 MORAIS, Frederico, Abraham Palatnik: A Pioneer of Technological Art. In: RETROSPECTIVE Abraham Palatnik: The Trajectory of an Inventor Artist. São Paulo: Itaú Cultural, 1999, p. 09. 2 Idem, ibid., p. 10. 3 PEDROSA, Mário, Introduction to the Biennial. In: AMARAL, Aracy (org.), Brazilian Constructive Project in Art. Rio de Janeiro, MAM 1977, p. 170. 4 MORAIS, Frederico, Abraham Palatnik: A Pioneer of Technological Art. In: RETROSPECTIVE Abraham Palatnik: The Trajectory of an Inventor Artist. São Paulo: Itaú Cultural, 1999, p. 16. 5 Idem, ibid.

Critiques

"In his most recent research—alongside his long-standing interest in real mobility, which led him to incorporate new materials and processes, such as magnets and magnetic fields, leading to the direct participation of the viewer in games of pure playful-visual perception—Palatnik has moved on to the concept of virtual kinetics, with 'progressive reliefs' rhythmically assembled in sequences of very thin sheets of the same wood for each set; here, taking advantage of the evidence of grains, knots, and other natural internal marks of an equally natural material, he causes movement to arise from the dynamics possible to the viewer's eye, ready to traverse the covered surface as if through a succession of frames, modifying almost imperceptibly in space and time. Activated visuality is, therefore, the core of his action: 'There are certain natural conditions that impress man, and it is up to the artist to show them. Therefore, I intend to reach the senses, activating perception.' ".
Roberto Pontual
PONTUAL, Roberto. Art/Brazil/today: 50 years later. São Paulo: Collectio, 1973.

"Palatnik is in the line of researchers of the plasticity of light, that is, the effects of space-time on our sensitivity. (...) He started with the kaleidoscope, dissatisfied with the primitive system of contemplating images through one eye and rotating a glass. He then wanted to expand vision, freeing it from the box in which it was hidden and projecting it onto the wall through a system of lenses. It was a revelation: visions of fantastic structures were destined to remain only children's toys. This discovery gave rise to the idea of ​​finding a way to control these fantastic structures, making them return to certain initial forms and thus creating a rhythm. But arbitrariness is inherent in the kaleidoscope. The structures there are generated randomly by the observer's manipulation. The artist could not be satisfied with this arbitrariness, which excluded him from the work. He then wanted to intervene in the metamorphoses of kaleidoscope to direct these forms in a plastic direction. (...) Color, finally, frees itself from the remains of its existence, dependent on the object, from its local, chemical materialism. It now becomes pure, direct, originating from artificial light sources. (...) Light transforms itself into a means of plastic expression thanks to its own qualities, such as fluidity, irradiation, dynamism, discontinuity, infiltration, enveloping expansionism, cooling, etc.
Mário Pedrosa
PEDROSA, Mário. Abraham Palatnik. In: MODERNITY: Brazilian art of the 20th century. São Paulo: MAM; Paris: Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1988.

"A pioneer in the use of electricity in the contemporary creative sphere, Palatnik also demonstrates, through his cinechromatic device, a pioneer of programmed art, given the operation and projection of chromatic images in cycles defined by the artist. Still from the 1950s, this device offers the viewer, like a magic cave, abstract representations that follow one another over a set period of time. This is why Palatnik embodies the artist as an inventor of our time, in which mastery of technique and imagination touch on the visual poetics that so interested the Concrete and Neo-Concrete Movements. Even in his painting, where rhythm is the basic element for progressive composition, whether through modules of fine woodcuts or when painting with acrylic paint on canvas, mathematical precision acts as an ordering impulse in the organization of space."
Aracy Amaral
AMARAL, Aracy (Org.). Museum of Contemporary Art of the University of São Paulo: profile of a collection. São Paulo: Techint Engenharia, 1988.

"(...) aesthetic speculations aside, in Palatnik's work there has always been the possibility of a creative/productive exchange between art, science, technology, and industry. In the 1981 interview (...), he states: 'To invent something, you have to have unconventional behavior. I think industries should call on visual artists because they have a perceptive potential that can solve many problems.' This was the proposal of the founders of the Bauhaus (1919/1933) when they based their teaching on the establishment of an art-industry circuit, in which art would serve to contain the pragmatic excesses of industry and the latter, conversely, would contain the romantic excesses of art. 'I continue to rely on intuition, although my work always requires mathematical calculations,' he concludes."
Frederico Morais
MORAIS, Frederico. Abraham Palatnik: a pioneer of technological art. In: Abraham Palatnik Retrospective: the trajectory of an artist inventor. São Paulo: Itaú Cultural, 1999.

Testimonials

"Human evolution is directly linked to the adoption of technology and information, and is undoubtedly part of a project.

I believe in a dynamic culture in which, through appropriate technology, we use our acquired potential to evolve and constantly adapt to the world around us.

Humans, who are living organisms immersed in a given environment, can only perceive through their sensory organs.

This information is coordinated through the nervous system and brain, undergoing a process of storage, comparison, and selection. Finally, it emerges to act on the outside world through exceptionally designed structural organs such as muscles and joints, among others. Reactions occur that combine with previously accumulated information to ensure more appropriate future behavior. The validity of information lies in our constant adjustment to the outside world while making our actions felt in it, directly or through through our extensions and technologies. A kind of 'exchange'.

Only in this way can our presence be justified.

It is clear that technology must be acquired at great cost, in contrast to the technology of animal society. The spider prepares an efficient and economical trap with a raw material it manufactures itself, highly sophisticated in viscosity and elasticity.

It skillfully immobilizes its victim. It performs maintenance and repairs. Its architecture is planned along the hunting route, etc. . . However, the spider never learns anything; it is born with 'printed circuits.'

The ant, likewise, also has rigid, limited tasks molded into its structure, whose physiological conditions are comparable to the 'cheap articles' mass-produced in our society.

Human beings represent a great investment in study and learning over decades. To disregard this advantage would be a degradation of human nature itself and a waste of its potential. These potentialities must be preserved and activated by stimulating perception and creativity, diversifying our extensions, implanting our wisdom and skill in them, and assuming design command. A kind of anti-routine, thus countering the slow pace of spontaneous evolution. Without perception and creativity, learning through encoded information can betray us.

The volume of information is increasing, and its characteristics are changing, increasingly linked to mass media and coded language. Access to all this information is overwhelming and impossible. Selection becomes necessary. Specialists emerge who know more and more about less. One day they will know everything about nothing.

In my early work, I seek the principles that generate information, that is, the principle of order and essence. Information in the universe is generally hidden, disguised amidst disorder.

The mechanism of perception and intuition is necessary for these to suddenly manifest. It is this 'surprise' that I find the greatest interest and fascination in. The process of 'exchange' begins, and through appropriate technology, I seek to discipline the information.

I also believe that the form of something is not just its contour, but primarily its essence. Reaching this essence is truly intriguing. It is the origin of all aesthetic manifestations manipulated by artists. Sensitivity is put to the test, the mechanism of improvisation blossoms, and playfulness presents itself, bringing man closer to his condition of participation and integration."
Abraham Palatnik, 1977
PALATNIK, Abraham. Abraham Palatnik. Rio de Janeiro: IAB, 1981.

Fun Facts

A 1986 interview with artist Abraham Palatnik, now republished in the book "Luz & Letra." "Luz & Letra," a recently released book by US-based Brazilian artist Eduardo Kac, brings together articles and essays written in the 1980s and published in Brazilian newspapers and magazines. The collection allows the reader to construct a kind of "portrait of the artist as a young man." At the same time, the new release offers an overview of technological art at the time. Excerpt from an interview Eduardo Kac conducted with painter and illustrator Abraham Palatnik.

Eduardo Kac - How did you meet Mario Pedrosa? What influence did he, as a critic attuned to avant-garde art, have on your creative process?

Abraham Palatnik - I met Mario Pedrosa in 1948, through colleagues like Ivan Serpa and Almir Mavignier. Mario greatly encouraged my research, which was completely non-traditional. I had already painted, but when I began experimenting, I abandoned the brush and began to explore things that had nothing to do with the traditional concept of art. At the time, what I was doing couldn't be art, so much so that during the first Biennial, I faced many problems. I couldn't be judged, I couldn't enter the Biennial, and there was no section in the Biennial for my kinetic art. Mario Pedrosa invented the name for one of my devices, which from then on was called "Cinecromático," and greatly stimulated my investigations into light and movement.

Kac - What was it like at the 1st Biennial? Was the first cinecromático seen as a revolutionary work of art, or, on the contrary, was it considered a curiosity without any major future consequences?

Palatnik - Actually, I got in by luck. At first, my device was rejected because it wasn't a painting, sculpture, drawing, or engraving. There was an oversight by the Japanese delegation, which didn't send the promised material on time. Then someone, I don't know who, remembered my work and suggested that it be placed in the vacant spot. I remember Almir turning to me and saying, "Abraham, you're exhibiting at the Biennial! They're going to put you in Japan's shoes." Anyway, the international jury was surprised and gave the work a special mention, recognizing it as "an important manifestation of modern art," as they put it. Even so, in subsequent Biennials, I received invitations to exhibit, but with the condition that I not compete for the award, as there was no section that could accommodate my work.

Cinematic Communication - 1967 Kac - You are one of the few Brazilian artists who is widely recognized abroad. In fact, better known abroad than at home. What was the international impact of your work in the 1950s, when you were conducting pioneering research in the field of kinetic art?

Palatnik - Years after participating repeatedly in the São Paulo Biennials, always perfecting my equipment, I was invited to participate in the Venice Biennale, and there I was once again fortunate enough to be approached by an Italian poet and critic, Carlo Belloli. Armed with proof that I began working with light and movement in 1949 and that I had shown my first results in 1951, he corrected the information in Europe. This is because the prevailing information at the time was that the precursors in art with light and movement were Malina and Schoffer—and at the 1st International Exhibition of Kinetic Art, this correction was already evident in the diagram published by the Denise René gallery in Paris.

Kac - In addition to light and movement, you also research the potential of magnetism in art. To what extent does this interest in scientific phenomena contribute to your research?

Palatnik - In fact, all the physical forces of nature interest me. Magnetism is so surprising that it could never escape my aesthetic curiosity. I've done some magnetic works, and I'm exhibiting one of them at Aktuell. I sent a multiple of this piece to "The New Dimension of the Object," a group exhibition currently underway in São Paulo (at the Museum of Modern Art at USP). It's an object that utilizes the nature of the positive and negative poles of magnets, in the sense of attraction and repulsion.

Kac - It's true that today, "high-tech" art is experiencing new forms of aesthetic expression, which have emerged with artists' mastery of new cutting-edge technologies. How do you view technological art today?

Palatnik - It is the understanding of the importance of form, not only in the external world but also in the unconscious roots of human activity, that allows us to dismantle the usual opposition between art, science, technology, and communications. Technology, in human evolution, acquires meaning and becomes evident to the extent that it allows the senses conscious access to the mechanics of natural forces. I am particularly interested in new technologies and would like to work with some of them. If I were starting out in art today, I would undoubtedly be researching holography and computers, for example. I haven't been closely following everything that's being done in Brazil, but I was at the opening of the Brasil High Tech exhibition this year, where I saw many interesting experiments. It is truly the artists who conduct research that can essentially provide contact with the unexpected, thus enlivening what we call "creativity."

Collections

Itaú ​​Cultural Institute Collection - São Paulo SP
Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the University of São Paulo - SP

Solo Exhibitions

1960 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Cinechromatic Apparatus, at the Museum of Modern Art
1964 - Saint Gallen (Switzerland) - Solo exhibition, at Saint Gallen University
1964 - Ulm (Germany) - Solo exhibition, at Galerie Studio F
1965 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Solo exhibition, at Galerie Hella Nibelung
1965 - Munich (Germany) - Solo exhibition, at the Brazilian Consulate
1965 - New York (United States) - Solo exhibition, at the Howard Wise Gallery
1965 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Solo exhibition, at Petite Gallery
1965 - Washington (United States) - Solo exhibition, at the Pan American Union Gallery
1966 - Rome (Italy) - Solo exhibition, at the Galeria d'Arte della Casa do Brasil
1971 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Solo exhibition, at the Barcinsky Gallery
1977 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Solo exhibition, at the Bonino Gallery
1981 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Solo exhibition, at the Brazilian Institute of Architects. Rio de Janeiro Department
1984 - São Paulo SP - Solo show, at the Applied Art Gallery
1986 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo show, at the Aktuell Gallery
1986 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo show, at GB ARTe
1989 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo show, at GB ARTe
1999 - Niterói RJ - Abraham Palatnik: retrospective, at the Museum of Contemporary Art
2000 - São Paulo SP - Solo show, at the Nara Roesler Gallery
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo show, at the Anita Schwartz Gallery
2002 - São Paulo SP - Pioneer Palatnik: painting machines and slowing machines, at Itaú Cultural
2004 - São Paulo SP - Solo show, at the Nara Roesler Gallery
2005 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo show, at the Gallery Anita Schwartz
2008 - São Paulo SP - Solo show, at the Nara Roesler Gallery
2009 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo show, at the Anita Schwartz Gallery

Group Exhibitions

1948 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 54th National Salon of Fine Arts, MNBA
1949 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 55th National Salon of Fine Arts, MNBA
1951 - São Paulo SP - 1st São Paulo International Biennial, Pavilhão do Trianon - Honorable Mention from the international jury
1953 - Petrópolis RJ - 1st National Exhibition of Abstract Art, Hotel Quitandinha
1953 - São Paulo SP - 2nd São Paulo International Biennial, Pavilhão dos Estados
1954 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st Grupo Frente, Galeria Ibeu Copacabana
1955 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 2nd Grupo Frente, MAM/RJ
1955 - São Paulo SP - 3rd São Paulo International Biennial, Pavilhão das Nações
1956 - Resende RJ - 3rd Grupo Frente, Itatiaia Country Club
1956 - Volta Redonda RJ - 4th Grupo Frente, Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional
1958 - São Paulo SP - 47 Artists, Galeria de Arte das Folhas
1959 - Leverkusen (Germany) - First Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1959 - Munich (Germany) - First Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe, Kunsthaus
1959 - Vienna (Austria) - First Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1959 - São Paulo SP - 5th São Paulo International Biennial, Pavilhão Ciccilo Matarazzo Sobrinho
1960 - Hamburg (Germany) - First Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1960 - Lisbon (Portugal) - First Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1960 - Madrid (Spain) - First Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1960 - Paris (France) - First Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1960 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st Salon of Plastic Arts, Galeria Ibeu Copacabana
1960 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 9th National Salon of Modern Art, MAM/RJ
1960 - Utrecht (Netherlands) - First Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe
1961 - São Paulo SP - 10th Paulista Salon of Modern Art, Galeria Prestes Maia
1961 - São Paulo SP - 6th São Paulo International Biennial, Pavilhão Ciccilo Matarazzo Sobrinho
1964 - Venice (Italy) - 32nd Venice Biennale
1965 - Baden-Baden (Germany) - Licht und Bewegung, Staatliche Kunsthalle
1965 - Bern (Switzerland) - Licht und Bewegung, Kunsthalle
1965 - Boston (USA) - Art Turned On, Institute of Contemporary Art
1965 - Brussels (Belgium) - Lumière, Mouvement et Optique, Palais des Beaux-Arts
1965 - London (England) - Brazilian Art Today, Royal Academy of Arts
1965 - Paris (France) - Mouvement II, Galerie Denise Rene
1965 - Paris (France) - Salon Comparaisons
1965 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st Esso Salon of Young Artists, MAM/RJ
1965 - São Paulo SP - 1st Esso Salon of Young Artists, MAC/USP
1965 - São Paulo SP - 8th São Paulo International Biennial, Fundação Bienal
1965 - São Paulo SP - Proposta 65, FAAP
1965 - Tel Aviv (Israel) - Art et Mouvement, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
1965 - Vienna (Austria) - Brazilian Art Today, Museum für Angewandte Kunst
1966 - Bonn (Germany) - Brazilian Art Today, Beethovenhalle
1966 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Contemporary Brazilian Artists, Museo de Arte Moderno
1966 - Córdoba (Argentina) - 3rd American Art Biennial - 3rd Prize
1966 - Eindhoven (Netherlands) - Kunst-Licht-Kunst, Stedelijk van Abbemuseum
1966 - Houston (USA) - Contemporary Painting in Brazil, Kiko Gallery
1966 - Lima (Peru) - American Painting Festival, Feria Internacional del Pacífico
1966 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 4th JB Art Summary, MAM/RJ
1966 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Seventeen Latin American Painters, MAM/RJ
1966 - San Francisco (USA) - Kinetic Art, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
1966 - Montevideo (Uruguay) - Contemporary Brazilian Artists, Museo de Arte Moderno de Montevideo
1967 - Chicago (USA) - Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture, University of Illinois
1967 - Minneapolis (USA) - Light Motion Space, Walker Art Center
1967 - Flint (USA) - Light and Movement, Flint Institute of Arts
1967 - Houston (USA) - Art in America, Contemporary Art Association
1967 - Milwaukee (USA) - Light Motion Space, Milwaukee Art Center
1967 - New York (USA) - Let There Be Light, Malcolm Forbes Collection
1967 - New York (USA) - Lights in Orbit, Howard Wise Gallery
1967 - New York (USA) - Luminism, Hotel George Washington
1967 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 3rd The Face and the Work, Galeria Ibeu Copacabana
1967 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 5th JB Art Summary, MAM/RJ - 1st Prize
1967 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 5th JB Art Summary, Galeria Bonino - 1st Prize
1967 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Salão das Caixas, Petite Galerie
1967 - São Paulo SP - 9th São Paulo International Biennial, Fundação Bienal
1967 - Urbana (USA) - Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture, University of Illinois
1967 - Worcester (USA) - Light and Motion, Worcester Art Museum
1969 - São Paulo SP - 10th São Paulo International Biennial, Fundação Bienal - Itamaraty Prize
1971 - Curitiba PR - 28th Paraná Salon, Biblioteca Pública do Paraná
1971 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st Eletrobrás Art Salon, MAM/RJ - Special Room
1972 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 10th JB Art Summary, MAM/RJ - 1st Prize
1972 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 50 Years of Brazilian Art: Gilberto Chateaubriand Collection, Galeria Ibeu Copacabana
1972 - São Paulo SP - Arte/Brasil/Hoje: 50 Years Later, Collectio Gallery
1975 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The Integration of Art in Architecture, Galeria Ibeu Copacabana
1977 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Constructive Project in Art: 1950-1962, MAM/RJ
1977 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Constructive Project in Art: 1950-1962, Pinacoteca do Estado
1978 - São Paulo SP - The Object in Art: Brazil in the 1960s, MAB/FAAP
1979 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Arts in the Mall, Shopping Cassino Atlântico
1979 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Sculptors, Galeria Aktuell
1979 - São Paulo SP - Playful Sculpture Exhibition, MASP
1980 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Tribute to Mário Pedrosa, Galeria Jean Boghici
1982 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Contemporaneity: Tribute to Mário Pedrosa, MAM/RJ
1983 - Milan (Italy) - Arte Programmata e Cinética: 1953-1963, Palazzo Reale
1984 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Grupo Frente 1954-1956, Galeria Banerj
1984 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Wood, Material of Art, MAM/RJ
1984 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Active Brazilian Painting, Espaço Petrobras
1984 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - One Anniversary and Five Great Artists, Galeria Aktuell
1984 - São Paulo SP - Jewish Plastic Artists, MAB/FAAP
1984 - São Paulo SP - Gilberto Chateaubriand Collection: Portrait and Self-Portrait of Brazilian Art, MAM/SP
1984 - São Paulo SP - Geometria 84, Paulo Figueiredo Art Gallery
1984 - Volta Redonda RJ - Grupo Frente 1954-1956
1985 - Belo Horizonte MG - Geometry Today, Museu de Arte da Pampulha
1985 - Niterói RJ - Abraham Palatnik, Abelardo Zaluar, Rubem Ludolf, Galeria Cândida Boechat
1985 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Galeria Ibeu Copacabana 25 Years: 1960-1985, Instituto Brasil-Estados Unidos
1986 - Resende RJ - Grupo Frente 1954-1956
1986 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - JK and the 1950s: A View of Culture and Daily Life, Galeria Investiarte
1986 - São Paulo SP - 17th Panorama of Contemporary Brazilian Art, MAM/SP - Acquisition Prize
1986 - São Paulo SP - The New Dimension of the Object, MAC/USP
1987 - Paris (France) - Modernity: Brazilian Art of the 20th Century, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
1987 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st Geometric Abstraction: Concretism and Neo-Concretism, Fundação Nacional de Arte. Centro de Artes
1987 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - To the Collector: Tribute to Gilberto Chateaubriand, MAM/RJ
1987 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Bridge to the 21st Century, Rio Design Center
1987 - São Paulo SP - 1st Geometric Abstraction: Concretism and Neo-Concretism, MAB/FAAP
1988 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Exhibition of Prototypes for the “Uma Escultura para o Mar de Angra” Competition, EAV/Parque Lage
1988 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Tribute to Décio Vieira, Villa Rizzo
1988 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Paper in Space, Galeria Aktuell
1988 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - A Sculpture for the Sea of Angra, EAV/Parque Lage
1988 - São Paulo SP - MAC 25 Years: Recent Acquisitions and Donations, MAC/USP
1988 - São Paulo SP - Modernity: Brazilian Art of the 20th Century, MAM/SP
1988 - São Paulo SP - Rhythms and Forms: Contemporary Brazilian Art, Sesc Pompéia
1989 - Copenhagen (Denmark) - Rhythms and Forms: Contemporary Brazilian Art, Museum of Charlottenborg
1989 - Niterói RJ - Constructive Painters, Centro Cultural Paschoal Carlos Magno
1989 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Our 1980s, Casa de Cultura Laura Alvim
1989 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Vive la France, GB ARTe
1990 - Brasília DF - Brasília Prize for Plastic Arts, Museu de Arte de Brasília
1990 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Art as Construction, Rio Design Center
1991 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Mário Pedrosa, Art, Revolution and Reflection, CCBB
1992 - Porto Alegre RS - Mário Pedrosa, Art, Revolution and Reflection, Centro Municipal de Cultura
1992 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st Towards Niterói: João Satamini Collection, Paço Imperial
1992 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Eco Art, MAM/RJ
1992 - São Paulo SP - The Seduction of Volumes: The Three-Dimensional Works of MAC, MAC/USP
1992 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Brasilien: Entdeckung und Selbstentdeckung, Kunsthaus Zürich
1993 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazil, 100 Years of Modern Art, MNBA
1993 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Human Rights: Painting the Solution, MNBA
1993 - São Paulo SP - 23rd Panorama of Contemporary Brazilian Art, MAM/SP
1994 - São Paulo SP - Brazil 20th Century Biennial, Fundação Bienal
1996 - Niterói RJ - Contemporary Brazilian Art in the João Sattamini Collection, MAC-Niterói
1996 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Constructive Trends in the MAC/USP Collection: Construction, Measurement, and Proportion, CCBB
1996 - São Paulo SP - Inaugural Exhibition, Silvia Curti Market of Art and Culture
1997 - Porto Alegre RS - 1st Mercosur Visual Arts Biennial, Fundação Bienal de Artes Visuais
1997 - Porto Alegre RS - Constructive Approach and Design, Espaço Cultural ULBRA
1997 - São Paulo SP - Three-Dimensionality in 20th Century Brazilian Art, Itaú Cultural
1998 - Belo Horizonte MG - Three-Dimensionality in 20th Century Brazilian Art, Itaú Cultural
1998 - Brasília DF - Three-Dimensionality in 20th Century Brazilian Art, Galeria Itaú Cultural
1998 - Niterói RJ - Mirror of the Biennial, MAC-Niterói
1998 - Penápolis SP - Three-Dimensionality in 20th Century Brazilian Art, Galeria Itaú Cultural
1998 - São Paulo SP - Constructive Art in Brazil: Adolpho Leirner Collection, MAM/SP
1998 - São Paulo SP - Modern and Contemporary in Brazilian Art: Gilberto Chateaubriand Collection - MAM/RJ, MASP
1999 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Constructive Art in Brazil: Adolpho Leirner Collection, MAM/RJ
1999 - São Paulo SP - Everyday Life/Art. Technique - Art Machines, Itaú Cultural
2000 - Madrid (Spain) - Heterotopias: Mid-Century Without Place 1918-1968, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
2000 - Niterói RJ - Sattamini Collection: From Materials to Internal Differences, MAC-Niterói
2000 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - When Brazil Was Modern: Visual Arts in Rio de Janeiro from 1905 to 1960, Paço Imperial
2000 - São Paulo SP - Brazil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition. Modern Art, Fundação Bienal
2000 - São Paulo SP - Pirelli Collection in the MAM Collection: Brazilian Art in the 1960s, MAM/SP
2001 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Watercolors, Centro Cultural Light
2001 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 9th Universidarte, Universidade Estácio de Sá, Galeria Maria Martins
2001 - São Paulo SP - The Trajectory of Light in Brazilian Art, Itaú Cultural
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The Image of Rock Pop in Brazil, Paço Imperial
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Art in the Fadel Collection: From Modern Restlessness to Language Autonomy, CCBB
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Paths of the Contemporary 1952-2002, Paço Imperial
2002 - São Paulo SP - Form and Technical Image in Rio de Janeiro Art: 1950-1975, Paço das Artes
2002 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Art in the Fadel Collection: From Modern Restlessness to Language Autonomy, CCBB
2002 - São Paulo SP - Geometric and Kinetic, Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud
2002 - São Paulo SP - Gate 2, Galeria Nara Roesler
2003 - Brasília DF - Brazilian Art in the Fadel Collection: From Modern Restlessness to Language Autonomy, CCBB
2003 - Mexico City (Mexico) - Cuasi Corpus: Concrete and Neo-Concrete Art from Brazil: A Selection from the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art and Adolpho Leirner Collection, Museo Rufino Tamayo
2003 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Fiat Lux: Light in Art, Centro Cultural da Justiça Federal
2003 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Order x Freedom, MAM/RJ
2003 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilianart Project, Almacén Galeria de Arte
2003 - São Paulo SP - The Art Behind the Art: Where Artworks Stay and How They Travel, Espaço MAM - Villa-Lobos
2003 - São Paulo SP - MAC USP 40 Years: Contemporary Interfaces, MAC/USP
2004 - Madrid (Spain) - ARCO/2004, Parque Ferial Juan Carlos I
2004 - Porto Alegre, RS - Hyper Electro-Digital Relations, at Santander Cultural